Ezra/Nehemiah 4: Nehemiah's Mission to Rebuild and Restore

1
00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:04,920
Michael, I know this might be
hard to believe, but sometimes I

2
00:00:04,920 --> 00:00:09,280
make some really big mistakes.
And you know, you, you comforted

3
00:00:09,280 --> 00:00:10,960
me.
You texted about your chess

4
00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:12,520
lesson.
You said I just came back from

5
00:00:12,520 --> 00:00:14,720
my chest lesson and you're like,
no chess lesson.

6
00:00:14,720 --> 00:00:18,320
I was like, OK, you know.
That Siri gets that wrong every

7
00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:21,000
time.
No batter, no matter how well I

8
00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:24,320
enunciate.
I will say chess and I was just

9
00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:29,960
like, I guess chess is such a
you'll often use unoften use

10
00:00:29,960 --> 00:00:33,680
seldom use words.
It just goes chest.

11
00:00:33,680 --> 00:00:36,320
Because a chest lesson is much
different than a chest lesson,

12
00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:38,080
presumably.
Yeah.

13
00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:41,240
Maybe it's like opening, you
know, locksmithing a treasure

14
00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:44,160
chest.
Or maybe it's like butterflies,

15
00:00:44,160 --> 00:00:45,160
you know?
Yeah.

16
00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:48,680
Or maybe you're studying like
your pectoralis major and you're

17
00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:53,240
like, if this, you know, tendon
snaps, that would be bad.

18
00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:57,120
That would be a bad thing.
I, I made a mistake and IA much

19
00:00:57,120 --> 00:01:00,000
bigger mistake than you made and
it has to do with your family.

20
00:01:02,480 --> 00:01:04,560
And so I feel like, I, I feel
like I need to publicly

21
00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:07,440
apologize 'cause it's like one
of the all time terrible ones.

22
00:01:08,040 --> 00:01:12,480
And my in my defense, in our
group on Wednesdays that meet,

23
00:01:12,480 --> 00:01:15,400
which is like 18 to 24 year
olds, I think.

24
00:01:16,080 --> 00:01:18,400
Does does Olivia have Facebook
or no?

25
00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:25,520
She does not have any social
media other than be real.

26
00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:28,520
OK, OK, so but.
Yeah, yeah, she is on the back

27
00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:29,800
of the bulletin.
Well, yeah.

28
00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:34,280
Well, and also in my defense, it
was like one of the 1st July.

29
00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:35,360
Like, I don't know if we had a
July.

30
00:01:35,360 --> 00:01:36,120
I don't know.
I don't.

31
00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:41,680
I'm making excuses but I rely
mostly on my wife telling me

32
00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:43,200
it's someone.
So really, this has come back to

33
00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:46,000
being Leanne's fault.
My fault my I'm making it worse.

34
00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:49,960
So big Long story short, missed
her birthday.

35
00:01:50,320 --> 00:01:52,440
But that's not that's not the
worst part.

36
00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:54,360
It gets much worse.
It gets worse.

37
00:01:54,360 --> 00:01:58,320
So Caleb Hock had a birthday
like 2 days before or one day?

38
00:01:58,320 --> 00:01:59,520
Before.
One day before.

39
00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:02,840
And so I was like, oh, use on
people's birthdays, I will go

40
00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:05,280
and grab like Chick-fil-A or
this one.

41
00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:07,680
I got Krispy Kreme doughnuts.
I even brought a candle from

42
00:02:07,680 --> 00:02:10,160
home and a lighter and I put in
a little doughnut and we're

43
00:02:10,280 --> 00:02:12,360
like, oh, and Caleb missed it.
He forgot, 'cause we were just

44
00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:14,640
starting back up and we were
like taking this video, like,

45
00:02:14,640 --> 00:02:16,320
oh, Caleb, you missed your
birthday.

46
00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:18,160
Or even got like the little
Krispy Kreme hat I was gonna

47
00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:20,120
make him wear.
And it was great.

48
00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:24,680
And then I'm pretty sure like
either 5 or 10 minutes past,

49
00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:26,480
maybe we do the whole lesson.
I don't know if that much

50
00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:28,680
passes.
And at some point there's like,

51
00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:31,880
I don't have a Chloe or Lydia,
but it comes out that her

52
00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:36,040
birthday is that day.
And I did not say anything.

53
00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:38,720
Oh that was like an all time low
moment.

54
00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:41,040
The version I heard was there
was some stuff at the beginning

55
00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:44,080
and then towards the end you're
like, you know, who's you know,

56
00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:45,800
Is there anyone whose birthday
is the day?

57
00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:50,000
And the thing was a little
insight into our family.

58
00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:54,720
Some of my family are huge
Twilight fans, OK?

59
00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:57,120
Lydia being one of them.
Oh, I did not know this.

60
00:02:57,640 --> 00:03:00,640
So she wanted her actual
birthday party on the day before

61
00:03:00,640 --> 00:03:04,640
her birthday Because there's
this line when Bella asked

62
00:03:04,640 --> 00:03:06,800
Edward how old he is, and he
says 17.

63
00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:08,720
And she says, how long have you
been 17?

64
00:03:09,120 --> 00:03:11,920
So since she was turning 18.
She wanted.

65
00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:14,800
Her birthday to be how long have
you been 17?

66
00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:19,120
Themed So I think it wasn't even
on Chloe's mind.

67
00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:20,920
So it.
Wasn't No, Chloe, you're you're

68
00:03:21,200 --> 00:03:24,080
to blame too.
'Cause we had celebrated it the,

69
00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:27,880
the day before.
And so you had said something

70
00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:30,880
like, you know, you know, whose
birthday is the day.

71
00:03:30,880 --> 00:03:33,440
Well, maybe not today, but you
know, the day before or

72
00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:35,960
something.
And Lydia kind of cut eyes over

73
00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:39,040
at Chloe and then Chloe's like,
you know, realization.

74
00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:40,840
And Lydia didn't want to say
anything because she didn't want

75
00:03:40,840 --> 00:03:43,680
to make you feel bad, but.
I felt I felt so bad and on top

76
00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:47,200
of it, on top of it, you guys
are doing like the hard 75.

77
00:03:47,680 --> 00:03:49,920
And so she, they've like your
family's committed to like

78
00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:52,080
eating healthy.
And so she's like, I want a

79
00:03:52,120 --> 00:03:54,640
Krispy Kreme doughnut.
Unless it's the 4th of July D&D

80
00:03:54,640 --> 00:03:57,720
get together and it's like, you
know, how do you, how do you eat

81
00:03:57,720 --> 00:03:59,280
healthy at that?
How do you do?

82
00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:01,680
You got to have some, you know.
Some wiggle room.

83
00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:05,720
So it's probably 75.
It's not 70 'cause they're 75.

84
00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:07,960
Soft and 75.
I've not checked.

85
00:04:07,960 --> 00:04:09,960
It out.
So we're probably like some 75

86
00:04:09,960 --> 00:04:12,040
medium.
OK, right, right in the middle.

87
00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:13,560
Yeah.
There you go, Cell.

88
00:04:13,920 --> 00:04:15,920
Anyway, this felt.
I feels better to get that off

89
00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:16,440
your chest.
Yeah.

90
00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:17,640
Make mistakes.
Sorry, Lydia.

91
00:04:18,399 --> 00:04:20,040
Ones on me.
Cell can't.

92
00:04:20,079 --> 00:04:21,200
Can't win them all.
Nope.

93
00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:23,640
Nope.
But hey, I think you, you know,

94
00:04:23,720 --> 00:04:26,000
kind of made-up for it, right?
Somehow, Yeah.

95
00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:28,120
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah.

96
00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:31,280
It's, you know, it's we, we,
it's, it's good, it's good, you

97
00:04:31,280 --> 00:04:34,320
know, so we'll.
We'll so next summer.

98
00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:36,160
It's just got to be an all out
bash.

99
00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:38,720
Yeah.
The good news is I will never

100
00:04:38,720 --> 00:04:41,160
forget it again.
That that, that is the very

101
00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:46,000
positive side.
But, you know, Nehemiah, Ezra,

102
00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:48,360
Nehemiah, they did they, you
know, mistakes were made in

103
00:04:48,360 --> 00:04:50,880
those stories by the people.
Yeah, and there were some

104
00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:52,960
disappointments.
There were some disappointments

105
00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:55,760
that that's right.
So you know, fits fits well.

106
00:04:56,720 --> 00:05:00,560
We've been 3 episodes into the
series so far wrapped up Ezra

107
00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:03,920
last time we're hitting.
Let's go ahead, take it to the

108
00:05:03,920 --> 00:05:13,000
next level from the hearts of
the low country in South

109
00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:17,200
Carolina.
It's the Take Two podcast where

110
00:05:17,200 --> 00:05:19,400
we take theology to the next
level.

111
00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:25,640
Ezra, Nehemiah, let's let's do
like a one minute recap.

112
00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:27,280
What?
What kind of things have we been

113
00:05:27,280 --> 00:05:30,320
talking about?
And one thing I like about this

114
00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:33,920
series is like, all the
confluence of different Bible

115
00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:37,800
books and prophets that are all
either going on at this time or

116
00:05:37,800 --> 00:05:42,120
like, in the ballpark, you know?
Yeah, yeah, You know, we got

117
00:05:42,120 --> 00:05:45,600
Jeremiah Daniel kind of on the
front and really more before,

118
00:05:45,640 --> 00:05:48,080
before Ezra kind of leading into
it.

119
00:05:48,600 --> 00:05:51,840
And then during Ezra, you know,
Haggai, Zechariah, I I did want

120
00:05:51,840 --> 00:05:57,520
to read in impact.
We did go through Zechariah,

121
00:05:57,520 --> 00:05:59,280
'cause I was like, oh, we
should, we should do some of

122
00:05:59,280 --> 00:06:01,720
these.
We should do some of these

123
00:06:01,720 --> 00:06:04,800
profits that that we never talk
about because did.

124
00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:09,320
You do Zechariah or is Zachary
for the your Bible study?

125
00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:12,840
We did, Zachary.
Zachary, The Book of Zachary.

126
00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:17,440
And I'm trying to think of
exactly where it's at.

127
00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:20,240
I think it's here.
I think this is really cool

128
00:06:20,240 --> 00:06:22,200
'cause I, I don't know about
you, I'm not reading Zechariah

129
00:06:22,200 --> 00:06:23,840
like every day.
Oh, man, it's, you know, it's

130
00:06:23,880 --> 00:06:25,360
just like every day I read
through all of it.

131
00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:26,960
It's.
Like the minor prophet.

132
00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:28,600
Some people are like Proverb
every day.

133
00:06:28,600 --> 00:06:31,360
I'm like Zechariah every day.
A minor prophet every day.

134
00:06:31,360 --> 00:06:33,200
What a great reading plan.
That's great.

135
00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:36,520
And Zechariah 3, I'm just going
to read the first 5 verses

136
00:06:36,520 --> 00:06:38,440
because it is, it's like you
think of prophets and you just

137
00:06:38,440 --> 00:06:41,200
think of like doom and gloom and
all this stuff.

138
00:06:41,200 --> 00:06:44,360
But it's it's really such a good
picture of, of the gospel and it

139
00:06:44,360 --> 00:06:47,960
talks about Joshua.
Joshua is how it is in Ezra, but

140
00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:51,840
wizardable from that very maybe
that second podcast we did and

141
00:06:51,840 --> 00:06:55,520
Zacharias and a vision and he
says this Angel showed me Joshua

142
00:06:55,520 --> 00:06:58,080
the high priest standing before
the Angel of the Lord.

143
00:06:58,080 --> 00:07:00,520
So really we we got we did an
episode.

144
00:07:00,520 --> 00:07:04,760
So you know, thinking of this
Christophany and Satan standing

145
00:07:04,760 --> 00:07:08,760
at his right hand to accuse him.
So Satan's accusing Joshua and

146
00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:12,760
Yahweh said to Satan, the Lord
rebuke you Satan, the Lord who

147
00:07:12,760 --> 00:07:15,880
has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you.
Is not this a brand plucked from

148
00:07:15,880 --> 00:07:18,080
the fire.
Now Joshua was standing before

149
00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:21,720
the Angel, clothed with filthy
garments, and the Angel said to

150
00:07:21,720 --> 00:07:24,200
those who were standing before
them, remove the filthy garments

151
00:07:24,200 --> 00:07:25,960
from him and give them clean
garments.

152
00:07:25,960 --> 00:07:27,840
It's like, it's like such a
satan's accusing him.

153
00:07:28,320 --> 00:07:30,480
The garments change.
It's like man, it's like almost

154
00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:32,560
can't get.
That's a pretty clear picture.

155
00:07:32,600 --> 00:07:33,520
Of salvation.
Yeah, yeah.

156
00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:35,240
And and Zechariah, which is
which is great.

157
00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:38,480
So I think, you know, I'm guilty
of not reading all the minor

158
00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:40,480
prophets like every day, but
really good.

159
00:07:40,480 --> 00:07:43,200
And he was one of the prophets
during this time.

160
00:07:44,280 --> 00:07:48,040
Fast forward, that was really
observable kind of time frame of

161
00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:49,880
Jeshua.
Last time we talked about Ezra,

162
00:07:49,880 --> 00:07:51,040
this time we talked about
Nehemiah.

163
00:07:51,040 --> 00:07:53,360
They're pretty close
contemporaries of each other.

164
00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:57,440
Ezra came in that kind of first
wave and then maybe a few years

165
00:07:57,440 --> 00:08:01,040
later, 15 years later or
something, Nehemiah is coming to

166
00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:03,720
build the wall.
Ezra came to restore Torah or

167
00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:08,360
worship, and we'll just start
Nehemiah one.

168
00:08:08,360 --> 00:08:12,000
Do you want to read verses one
through 3?

169
00:08:12,760 --> 00:08:17,280
Yeah, I am happy to do that.
We were talking about every time

170
00:08:17,280 --> 00:08:21,600
I open up the Bible app, it
says, do you love this?

171
00:08:21,600 --> 00:08:23,480
And it's like right when you're
right when you're wanting to

172
00:08:23,480 --> 00:08:25,280
read it, it wants you to rank
it.

173
00:08:25,280 --> 00:08:29,040
And then so if you're, I know
all the Bible app developers

174
00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:32,200
are, are listening, of course,
but you know, just just send

175
00:08:32,200 --> 00:08:34,840
that some other time.
But yeah, that's great.

176
00:08:35,159 --> 00:08:37,200
I think I left my Bible at
church yesterday.

177
00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:39,640
So yeah.
So I'm reading Nehemiah one, one

178
00:08:39,640 --> 00:08:44,800
through 3.
OK, the words of Nehemiah the

179
00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:49,560
son of Hakalaya.
Now it happened in the month of

180
00:08:49,560 --> 00:08:53,800
Shizhlev, in the 20th year,
while I was in Sousa, the

181
00:08:53,800 --> 00:08:58,800
capital, that Hanani, one of my
brothers, and some men from

182
00:08:58,800 --> 00:09:02,040
Judah came, and I asked them
concerning the Jews who had

183
00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:05,200
escaped and had survived the
captivity about Jerusalem.

184
00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:08,960
They said to me the remnant
there in the province who

185
00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:13,480
survived the captivity are in
great distress and reproach, and

186
00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:16,720
the wall of Jerusalem is broken
down and its gates are burned

187
00:09:16,720 --> 00:09:19,360
with fire.
Thank you, Michael.

188
00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:22,280
So we're introduced to Nehemiah.
It's probably of note you look

189
00:09:22,280 --> 00:09:24,440
up Nehemiah's name means
comforts.

190
00:09:24,440 --> 00:09:27,520
It's kind of this juxtaposition
between all of this like chaos

191
00:09:27,520 --> 00:09:30,720
that is happening.
This is likely happening in a

192
00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:36,480
late autumn 20th year of Arctic
Xerxes the Persian king, 131415

193
00:09:36,480 --> 00:09:40,040
years after Ezra, and if you're
thinking big picture, Ezra.

194
00:09:40,040 --> 00:09:44,280
Nehemiah 94 years ish.
Maybe 100 years since Cyrus's

195
00:09:44,280 --> 00:09:48,080
decree way back at the Big.
The rubber bulls dead now.

196
00:09:48,160 --> 00:09:51,480
Probably, yeah, probably.
So over 70 years since the

197
00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:54,840
temple was completed, give or
take, you know, 10 or 15 years.

198
00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:58,920
Everyone dates it a little bit
different and you know, Ezra's

199
00:09:58,920 --> 00:10:01,600
just been there 15 years ago,
but things are not going super

200
00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:02,440
well from this.
Report.

201
00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:05,720
It seems like, you know, there's
trouble.

202
00:10:06,120 --> 00:10:10,040
The wall's broken, the gates,
burns, all these things.

203
00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:13,320
And really, this is probably
alluding to 160 years ago,

204
00:10:13,320 --> 00:10:15,720
Babylon coming in, destroying
Judah.

205
00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:19,920
But since then, not a lot of
progress has been made.

206
00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:22,880
And in those days, you know, a
wall is pretty essential to a

207
00:10:22,880 --> 00:10:24,680
city.
It's it's a sign.

208
00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:26,640
It's.
Yeah, yeah, it's.

209
00:10:26,920 --> 00:10:29,960
It's the border, so you need to
build a wall.

210
00:10:30,280 --> 00:10:34,840
You too and if if you don't have
a wall, it's essentially a sign

211
00:10:35,040 --> 00:10:37,920
that you're weak, that you're
vulnerable, you are not

212
00:10:37,920 --> 00:10:41,120
protected.
And if remember from Zerubbabel

213
00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:45,800
and Ezra, you know, there's
probably 50,000 plus Jews that

214
00:10:45,800 --> 00:10:48,520
have returned to Jerusalem plus
maybe others living kind of

215
00:10:48,520 --> 00:10:52,520
nearby ish and looks pretty
grim.

216
00:10:54,520 --> 00:10:58,400
Let's read.
I'm going to summarize a little

217
00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:00,880
bit of this.
Well, if you want to read, read

218
00:11:00,880 --> 00:11:06,560
verses 4/4 through 6.
When I heard these words, I sat

219
00:11:06,560 --> 00:11:09,800
down and wept and mourned for
days, and I was fasting and

220
00:11:09,800 --> 00:11:11,120
praying before the God of
heaven.

221
00:11:11,400 --> 00:11:14,480
And I said, I beseech you, O
Lord God of heaven, the great

222
00:11:14,480 --> 00:11:17,920
and awesome God, who preserves
the covenant and loving kindness

223
00:11:17,920 --> 00:11:20,320
for those who love Him and keep
His commandments.

224
00:11:20,880 --> 00:11:25,360
Let your ear now be attentive
and your eyes open to to hear

225
00:11:25,360 --> 00:11:28,120
the prayer of your servant,
which I am praying before you

226
00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:32,000
now day and night on behalf of
the sons of Israel, Your

227
00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:36,000
servants confessing the sins of
the sons of Israel, which we

228
00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:38,880
have sinned against.
You, I and my Father's house

229
00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:40,640
have sinned.
Great.

230
00:11:40,640 --> 00:11:43,640
And then if we were to read the
last, the second-half of that

231
00:11:43,640 --> 00:11:45,880
paragraph, he's gonna say we've
acted very corruptly.

232
00:11:45,880 --> 00:11:47,960
We haven't kept the
commandments, the rules like

233
00:11:47,960 --> 00:11:51,040
your servant Moses commanded us.
And Moses said, if you're not

234
00:11:51,040 --> 00:11:53,800
faithful, you'll be scattered.
He's like we are guilty of all

235
00:11:53,800 --> 00:11:56,360
these things.
We're we really don't deserve

236
00:11:56,440 --> 00:11:59,040
anything.
But listen to my prayer.

237
00:11:59,200 --> 00:12:02,320
Grant mercy to me.
And Ezra Nehemiah, Phil was like

238
00:12:02,320 --> 00:12:05,200
great, these great Daniel, Ezra
Nehemiah had these great

239
00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:07,600
prayers.
That's the one from

240
00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:10,160
Nebuchadnezzar himself.
Oh, and even from, yeah, even

241
00:12:10,160 --> 00:12:13,560
from the non, non main
characters here that that that's

242
00:12:13,560 --> 00:12:17,440
pretty, pretty amazing.
And there's a lot of fasting

243
00:12:17,440 --> 00:12:18,920
going on.
Like you see these things that

244
00:12:18,920 --> 00:12:21,560
are emphasized.
And so a big theme that we've

245
00:12:21,560 --> 00:12:24,440
already seen, we'll continue to
see, especially in chapter 1 is

246
00:12:24,440 --> 00:12:28,160
God's Providence that God stirs
the heart of the king over and

247
00:12:28,160 --> 00:12:30,400
over.
That these kings that really

248
00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:32,680
don't love you.
It's not like they are

249
00:12:32,680 --> 00:12:36,840
worshipping Yahweh, but they are
really fulfilling all these

250
00:12:36,840 --> 00:12:40,480
prophecies and working with with
God's people really unbeknownst

251
00:12:40,480 --> 00:12:42,600
to what they're doing.
Yeah, it's like the, I think

252
00:12:42,600 --> 00:12:45,000
it's either Proverbs 18 one or
21 one.

253
00:12:45,400 --> 00:12:48,480
But it's like the heart of the
king is like the river, and

254
00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:52,040
that's God, you know, the his
banks and he just turns to

255
00:12:52,040 --> 00:12:54,800
wherever he wants to.
I I that is like such a great

256
00:12:54,800 --> 00:12:57,640
proverb and this is like so
perfectly illustrated here.

257
00:12:57,920 --> 00:13:00,920
And then at the end of verse 11
or the end of chapter 1, we get

258
00:13:00,920 --> 00:13:05,280
this phrase.
Now I was cup bearer to the

259
00:13:05,280 --> 00:13:07,320
king.
And so you see Nehemiah get this

260
00:13:07,320 --> 00:13:08,960
response, gets this news.
It's terrible.

261
00:13:08,960 --> 00:13:12,400
His response is weeping, he's
mourning, he's fasting, he's

262
00:13:12,400 --> 00:13:15,000
praying.
He cared a lot about this city

263
00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:18,160
that probably never been to.
But it was like, you know, so

264
00:13:18,280 --> 00:13:23,000
ingrained and you know, all of
the Torah and these things and

265
00:13:23,000 --> 00:13:24,920
all these great things in the
prayer that we we could take

266
00:13:24,920 --> 00:13:27,040
more time to unpack, but we
won't.

267
00:13:27,400 --> 00:13:31,440
And that really brings us to
Chapter 2 and in Nehemiah,

268
00:13:31,440 --> 00:13:36,520
chapters 2 through 4, really we
start seeing, seeing some, some

269
00:13:36,520 --> 00:13:40,680
rough stuff happen, some
opposition, which which I think

270
00:13:40,680 --> 00:13:41,760
is interesting.
You know, a lot of people,

271
00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:43,760
they'll go in the leadership
direction for Nehemiah, which I

272
00:13:43,760 --> 00:13:46,240
don't think is the worst thing
in the world, but it's it's

273
00:13:46,240 --> 00:13:47,960
interesting.
What you told me the other day,

274
00:13:48,480 --> 00:13:51,000
all the leadership books on
Nehemiah, they're the worst.

275
00:13:51,280 --> 00:13:53,120
They're the worst.
We can't gain anything from

276
00:13:53,120 --> 00:13:54,880
them.
But you see these two sides of

277
00:13:54,880 --> 00:13:58,080
it, where God's Providence is at
work and the kings are doing

278
00:13:58,080 --> 00:13:59,880
exactly what you know God wants
them to do.

279
00:13:59,880 --> 00:14:03,280
But then on the other side, they
run into a lot of opposition.

280
00:14:03,720 --> 00:14:05,320
But Nehemiah's got some
fortitude.

281
00:14:05,320 --> 00:14:06,920
He's pushing through this, you
know.

282
00:14:07,760 --> 00:14:10,960
Is that a lesson for us?
Like, it could be God's will for

283
00:14:10,960 --> 00:14:13,400
us to do something, but it
doesn't mean that it's just

284
00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:15,000
going to be easy peasy cakewalk.
Yeah, yeah.

285
00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:18,280
And it doesn't even turn out
great in the end, but it was, it

286
00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:20,040
seemed like Nehemiah should have
been doing this too.

287
00:14:20,040 --> 00:14:21,440
It's, it's kind of confusing,
right?

288
00:14:22,240 --> 00:14:23,760
Because I think you meet,
sometimes you meet with some

289
00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:25,480
opposition.
You're like, I'm done or it's

290
00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:26,960
not God's will.
Or, you know, God must.

291
00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:29,120
Yeah.
And it's so it's so weird not to

292
00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:32,800
launch into to, to the, you
know, full decision making.

293
00:14:32,800 --> 00:14:35,360
But, you know, there are places
where Paul said the doors open

294
00:14:35,880 --> 00:14:37,760
and we didn't go because.
Amazing.

295
00:14:37,760 --> 00:14:39,360
Yeah.
And then there's places where

296
00:14:39,360 --> 00:14:42,760
the door in one sense gets open
because the king is going to

297
00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:45,280
kind of fund some of this stuff.
But they get there and it's just

298
00:14:45,280 --> 00:14:47,040
not.
It's like it's not an easy go.

299
00:14:47,280 --> 00:14:48,760
It's not easy.
I would that's great.

300
00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:51,520
I want to like.
I would love to hear someone be

301
00:14:51,520 --> 00:14:55,600
like, I'd open a door and I
didn't go like just quoting

302
00:14:55,600 --> 00:14:59,080
Paul, brother, you know, like
great.

303
00:14:59,080 --> 00:15:02,000
So Nehemiah 2.
I'm just going to summarize

304
00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:05,320
verses one through 8.
Basically what happened.

305
00:15:05,320 --> 00:15:08,320
This is like a flash forward
three to four months later

306
00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:11,600
between when he got word and
when he went to go before the

307
00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:13,360
king.
And so King Artaxerxes, as the

308
00:15:13,360 --> 00:15:15,720
king, you know you're the cup
bearer.

309
00:15:15,720 --> 00:15:18,280
It's probably not good for you
to show a lot of emotion.

310
00:15:18,560 --> 00:15:21,240
Right, I've always been told
that was could be, you know, I

311
00:15:21,240 --> 00:15:23,880
guess anything if you're the
king is subject to death if if

312
00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:26,160
it's his whim.
But yeah, he it says he was

313
00:15:26,160 --> 00:15:27,640
scared when the king was like,
why are you sad?

314
00:15:28,120 --> 00:15:30,960
It's like he's like, oh, no,
this, this is this might not be

315
00:15:30,960 --> 00:15:37,280
good, but again, God, God's
Providence at at on display.

316
00:15:37,800 --> 00:15:40,640
So the king asks why?
Nehemiah tells the king, Hey,

317
00:15:40,640 --> 00:15:42,160
you know, my homeland, it's in
ruins.

318
00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:45,640
And then the king asks Nehemiah,
like, what do you want me to do

319
00:15:45,640 --> 00:15:46,840
about it?
Like that's pretty, pretty

320
00:15:46,840 --> 00:15:48,680
amazing.
And then Nehemiah's response, if

321
00:15:48,680 --> 00:15:53,920
you look at verse 4, what's do
you want to read verse 4 'cause

322
00:15:53,920 --> 00:15:56,360
I think this is interesting, his
response in real time when he's.

323
00:15:56,360 --> 00:15:57,840
And what you have printed here
is this ESV.

324
00:15:58,240 --> 00:15:59,960
OK, I will.
Yeah, just lower your

325
00:15:59,960 --> 00:16:04,000
expectations, audience.
Then the king said to me, what

326
00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:06,680
are you requesting?
So I prayed to the God of

327
00:16:06,680 --> 00:16:07,600
heaven.
Is that all?

328
00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:08,360
That's it.
Yeah.

329
00:16:08,360 --> 00:16:10,080
So like even in that moment the
king talked to him, he like

330
00:16:10,080 --> 00:16:12,840
prays to himself, probably
silently like he's praying

331
00:16:13,040 --> 00:16:14,280
there's.
Gonna be words to say like what

332
00:16:14,280 --> 00:16:16,120
should I say?
Again, what's what is he gonna

333
00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:18,160
say?
And then he very boldly asked

334
00:16:18,160 --> 00:16:19,800
him, I want to return, kind of
rebuild the walls.

335
00:16:19,800 --> 00:16:22,680
The king agreed and not only
agreed, but the same thing like

336
00:16:22,680 --> 00:16:26,600
Cyrus did, like, hey, here's all
the here's wood, here's what you

337
00:16:26,600 --> 00:16:29,200
need, here's resources, here's
letters to pass through these

338
00:16:29,200 --> 00:16:30,560
territories without being
bothered.

339
00:16:31,280 --> 00:16:35,120
And verse 8, we read and the
king granted me what I asked

340
00:16:35,120 --> 00:16:38,120
for, for the good hand of my God
was upon me.

341
00:16:38,120 --> 00:16:41,080
And you kind of see this kind of
phraseology all the time that

342
00:16:41,080 --> 00:16:43,280
God's hand was upon me.
God was with me.

343
00:16:44,480 --> 00:16:50,440
And one quick note, when Ezra
came before the king, the King's

344
00:16:50,440 --> 00:16:51,440
like, hey, I'll give you
bodyguards.

345
00:16:51,640 --> 00:16:53,800
Ezra's like, no, no, no.
I've talked a big game about

346
00:16:53,800 --> 00:16:56,040
Yahweh.
He'll protect me here.

347
00:16:56,040 --> 00:16:57,600
The King's like, I'll give you
bodyguards.

348
00:16:57,600 --> 00:16:59,240
And EMI was like, Yep.
I'll take it.

349
00:16:59,720 --> 00:17:01,400
It's great.
Give me all the bodyguards and

350
00:17:01,720 --> 00:17:03,560
back to decision making and that
kind of thing.

351
00:17:03,560 --> 00:17:06,040
You kind of have that.
And what king is this?

352
00:17:06,520 --> 00:17:07,920
I I think.
It's.

353
00:17:08,200 --> 00:17:12,160
That's yeah and and.
I've mentioned this before,

354
00:17:12,280 --> 00:17:15,480
yeah, but it's always been
curious to me why the queen

355
00:17:15,480 --> 00:17:18,400
sitting beside him as mentioned,
'cause I'm always like, is this

356
00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:22,200
an illusion to Esther or like
maybe it's the Queen Mother Is

357
00:17:22,200 --> 00:17:26,359
Ark Xerxes the son of Hazarous
or is it the other way around?

358
00:17:26,359 --> 00:17:28,240
That those are the things that
are are fuzzy.

359
00:17:28,240 --> 00:17:31,080
It's very interesting.
I looked up one source on this

360
00:17:31,080 --> 00:17:34,000
after we talked about it last
time, 'cause I was like, I don't

361
00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:36,400
think Esther is here, but it
isn't.

362
00:17:36,400 --> 00:17:38,040
People are like, yeah, it's
probably not Esther.

363
00:17:38,080 --> 00:17:41,480
What people, what I read out
there, this is totally accurate,

364
00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:45,520
but what a few the commentaries
were saying were that it's just

365
00:17:45,520 --> 00:17:48,400
showing you this wasn't this big
public conversation.

366
00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:51,560
It was like maybe a few people
like served.

367
00:17:51,640 --> 00:17:53,480
It wasn't like an open thing.
Maybe in like more.

368
00:17:53,640 --> 00:17:55,440
Of a private private shape and.
So it would.

369
00:17:55,480 --> 00:17:57,160
Only be like the queen.
But I don't know.

370
00:17:57,160 --> 00:17:58,400
A lot of people are like, we
don't really know.

371
00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:00,040
That's why kind of we're kind of
guessing.

372
00:18:00,320 --> 00:18:03,160
It is a weird thing to say, like
just to throw in there, but

373
00:18:03,160 --> 00:18:10,520
that's all I could find.
And anyway, yeah, the king

374
00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:12,800
probably wants to keep his cup
air safe, so bodyguards are

375
00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:14,640
good.
And he's got these letters and,

376
00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:18,520
you know, gives him a little bit
of authority as he goes through

377
00:18:18,520 --> 00:18:20,840
these places.
And so we get to verse 9.

378
00:18:21,320 --> 00:18:25,520
Let's see the hero sand ballot.
Sand ballot the hero.

379
00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:28,880
What a great guy.
Go ahead, read verses 9 and 10

380
00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:29,400
all.
Right says.

381
00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:32,200
Then I came to the governors of
the province beyond the river

382
00:18:32,640 --> 00:18:36,320
and gave them the King's letter.
Now the king had sent with me

383
00:18:36,320 --> 00:18:38,200
officers of the army and
horsemen.

384
00:18:38,200 --> 00:18:40,400
Sounds pretty good.
But when Sand Ballot, the

385
00:18:40,400 --> 00:18:44,720
Horonite, and Tobiah the
Ammonite servant, heard this, it

386
00:18:44,720 --> 00:18:47,800
displeased them greatly that
someone had come to seek the

387
00:18:47,800 --> 00:18:52,040
welfare of the people of Israel.
Yeah, This is kind of, I think

388
00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:56,240
flash, flash forward of sorts to
when Nehemiah was in Judah.

389
00:18:56,640 --> 00:18:57,760
They made it.
Well, I guess we're flash

390
00:18:57,760 --> 00:18:59,080
forward.
They made it all the way there,

391
00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:01,800
safely made it.
But almost like right away these

392
00:19:01,800 --> 00:19:04,320
people send ballot Tobi are
like, don't love it.

393
00:19:04,600 --> 00:19:07,800
This is not not great.
And then in verses 11 through

394
00:19:07,800 --> 00:19:12,520
16, what Nehemiah does is kind
of this like undercover mission

395
00:19:12,520 --> 00:19:14,880
kind of three days.
He's not very vocal about it,

396
00:19:14,880 --> 00:19:17,000
but he kind of inspects the city
at night.

397
00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:19,960
He's not telling anyone what
he's doing, seeing how bad they

398
00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:22,440
were, how they were broken down,
destroyed by fire.

399
00:19:22,880 --> 00:19:25,000
But he didn't tell the Jews, the
priest and nobles, the officials

400
00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:26,680
or the rest.
He was just assessing.

401
00:19:26,680 --> 00:19:28,640
So this is where the leadership
comes in where people are like

402
00:19:29,160 --> 00:19:30,640
you always assess.
I mean, it's not, and I don't

403
00:19:30,640 --> 00:19:32,640
think this is bad.
This, this, this preaches kind

404
00:19:32,640 --> 00:19:34,760
of, you know what I mean, Like,
you know, take stock of it.

405
00:19:34,760 --> 00:19:37,440
You don't have to jump into
things right away.

406
00:19:37,480 --> 00:19:40,400
You need to prioritize or get a
layup, especially he had, you

407
00:19:40,400 --> 00:19:43,040
know, presumably not spend a lot
of time in Jerusalem.

408
00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:46,760
And then we get, we won't keep
doing this 'cause we will need

409
00:19:46,760 --> 00:19:48,520
to start moving faster.
But if you want to read verses

410
00:19:48,520 --> 00:19:52,600
17 through 20.
Says Then I said to them, You

411
00:19:52,600 --> 00:19:56,080
see the trouble we are in, how
Jerusalem lies in ruins with its

412
00:19:56,080 --> 00:19:58,840
gates burned.
Come, let us build the wall of

413
00:19:58,840 --> 00:20:01,920
Jerusalem, that we may no longer
suffer derision.

414
00:20:02,440 --> 00:20:06,520
I told them of the hand of my
God that had been upon me for

415
00:20:06,520 --> 00:20:09,840
good, and also of the words that
the king had spoken to me.

416
00:20:10,480 --> 00:20:12,400
And they said, Let us rise up
and build.

417
00:20:12,400 --> 00:20:14,240
So they strengthened their hands
for good work.

418
00:20:14,600 --> 00:20:18,680
But when Sanbel at the Horonite,
and Tobiah the Ammonite servant.

419
00:20:19,640 --> 00:20:23,560
That's a funny read and Jessam
the Arab heard of it.

420
00:20:23,760 --> 00:20:27,160
They jeered at us and despised
us and said, what is this thing

421
00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:29,080
that you're doing?
Are you rebelling against the

422
00:20:29,080 --> 00:20:31,600
king?
Then I replied to them, The God

423
00:20:31,600 --> 00:20:35,480
of heaven will make us prosper,
and we his servants will rise

424
00:20:35,480 --> 00:20:38,320
and build.
But you have no portion or write

425
00:20:38,320 --> 00:20:40,120
or claim in Jerusalem.
So great.

426
00:20:40,120 --> 00:20:41,560
This is like straight out of a
movie.

427
00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:44,120
He's like rallying the troops.
Everyone's on board, but the

428
00:20:44,120 --> 00:20:46,960
enemies are stepping forward and
they're saying, hey, we're going

429
00:20:46,960 --> 00:20:50,080
to prevail.
That leads us into Nehemiah 3:00

430
00:20:50,080 --> 00:20:52,160
to 4:00 and we can start moving
pretty quickly.

431
00:20:52,160 --> 00:20:55,400
Here, read this.
There's a lot of names.

432
00:20:55,400 --> 00:20:58,800
It's almost like a tedious name,
a tedious list that's very hard

433
00:20:58,800 --> 00:21:00,720
to pronounce some of these
names, but you got to think

434
00:21:00,720 --> 00:21:03,560
like, why is this in here?
It's, it's, it's not like the

435
00:21:03,560 --> 00:21:05,840
author's like I'm just going to
throw in some, some trickery

436
00:21:05,840 --> 00:21:09,720
here, but I think it points to
the historicity and, and one

437
00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:11,320
sense, you know, they're
recording all of this, but you

438
00:21:11,320 --> 00:21:14,760
see all these different gates.
They're all being consecrated.

439
00:21:15,960 --> 00:21:17,520
Lots of gates.
You can look and study Bibles

440
00:21:17,520 --> 00:21:19,680
and they'll kind of like try to
give you a picture of all the

441
00:21:19,680 --> 00:21:22,360
different gates they were
working on.

442
00:21:22,360 --> 00:21:24,880
You know, gates were the center
of commerce in those days.

443
00:21:24,880 --> 00:21:28,280
You do business there.
Not, you know, so the wall gates

444
00:21:28,280 --> 00:21:31,400
not just for military defense,
but for all sorts of different

445
00:21:31,400 --> 00:21:34,760
things.
Also like weren't like court

446
00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:36,280
hearings and stuff like hurting
the gates?

447
00:21:36,320 --> 00:21:38,040
So yeah, yeah, like legal
proceedings.

448
00:21:38,040 --> 00:21:43,080
I think you're exactly right.
You know, certain gates were

449
00:21:43,080 --> 00:21:48,320
consecrated, certain gates
weren't and some we won't spend

450
00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:50,880
a lot of time on it, but some of
the nobles would be like, hey,

451
00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:52,800
this kind of stuff's beneath me,
I'm not going to do this.

452
00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:55,240
So there is a little bit a
little bit of trouble with some

453
00:21:55,240 --> 00:21:56,560
of this, but we're going to
skip.

454
00:21:56,920 --> 00:21:59,520
And these are nobles that
presumably did not get taken to

455
00:21:59,520 --> 00:22:02,000
Babylon.
Presumably, yeah.

456
00:22:02,120 --> 00:22:03,440
And.
They they have come over with

457
00:22:03,480 --> 00:22:06,320
Ezra or Ezra.
You know that that's a that's a

458
00:22:06,320 --> 00:22:09,440
great, great point that I don't
know off top my head.

459
00:22:09,440 --> 00:22:12,000
It just in the in verse 5, it
just says the nobles would not

460
00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:15,800
stoop to serve.
I don't know a whole lot outside

461
00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:17,320
of that.
We keep going more gates, more

462
00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:21,400
gates, the dung gate, the
fountain gate people are and

463
00:22:21,440 --> 00:22:23,680
listing all the people that are
helping out at the horse gate

464
00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:25,280
and the sheep gate and the
muster gate.

465
00:22:26,360 --> 00:22:29,840
Not a lot of varieties, kind of
formulaic that goes through all

466
00:22:29,840 --> 00:22:34,640
sorts of things halfway through.
It's just what this is this

467
00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:37,960
Nixon.
That's awesome.

468
00:22:38,640 --> 00:22:41,320
They start repairing some houses
priests were assigned and then

469
00:22:41,320 --> 00:22:42,680
this is also the leadership
thing.

470
00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:44,920
He assigned like priests to work
on their own house.

471
00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:47,920
So maybe they'd be presumably
more motivated to build this

472
00:22:47,920 --> 00:22:53,840
quickly and do a good job and.
And all this together is like 26

473
00:22:54,440 --> 00:22:55,960
acres or so.
Oh yeah.

474
00:22:56,440 --> 00:22:57,160
It's not.
It's not a.

475
00:22:57,160 --> 00:22:58,960
Huge.
It's not a huge place,

476
00:22:59,200 --> 00:23:03,520
especially this.
It's like smaller than Jerusalem

477
00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:05,160
today, you know?
So yeah.

478
00:23:05,280 --> 00:23:08,200
Rome comes and they expands and
stuff and yeah, but this is

479
00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:11,560
fairly small, like 26.
You know more than we should

480
00:23:11,560 --> 00:23:13,880
look that up in the break
between the next one and see

481
00:23:13,880 --> 00:23:17,880
exactly where, because it's
something like crazily small.

482
00:23:18,280 --> 00:23:21,680
So that's all of Nehemiah 3.
Nehemiah 4, we kind of get into

483
00:23:21,680 --> 00:23:26,680
some more opposition.
Sam Ballot is angry, greatly

484
00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:28,960
enraged.
He jeers at the the Jews.

485
00:23:29,480 --> 00:23:34,560
We get another prayer here.
Our God, we're being despised.

486
00:23:35,360 --> 00:23:37,400
Me and Maya.
I think Ezra does this too.

487
00:23:37,760 --> 00:23:39,320
And Daniel does this as well
when he's praying.

488
00:23:39,320 --> 00:23:41,200
But it's like all of his prayers
are so corporate.

489
00:23:41,200 --> 00:23:44,920
He's always like help us help,
whether it's good things or bad

490
00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:48,240
things.
It's very, very corporates and

491
00:23:48,240 --> 00:23:52,440
he's just praying all the time.
Verse 6 says we built the wall

492
00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:54,800
and the wall was joined together
to half its height for the

493
00:23:54,800 --> 00:23:58,160
people had a mind to work so
they didn't get distracted, they

494
00:23:58,160 --> 00:24:00,440
didn't quit.
They just kind of kept pushing

495
00:24:00,440 --> 00:24:03,560
on.
If you want to read verses 7

496
00:24:03,560 --> 00:24:07,480
through 9, go for it, because we
see those two, you know, foes up

497
00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:10,400
here once again.
But when Sand Ballot and Tobiah

498
00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:14,200
and the Arabs and the Ammonites
and the Ashodites heard that the

499
00:24:14,200 --> 00:24:16,840
repairing of the walls of
Jerusalem was going forward and

500
00:24:16,840 --> 00:24:19,440
that the breaches were being
beginning to be closed, they

501
00:24:19,440 --> 00:24:21,920
were very angry.
And they all plotted together to

502
00:24:21,920 --> 00:24:25,520
come and fight against Jerusalem
and to cause confusion in it.

503
00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:29,160
And we pray to our God and set a
guard as a protection against

504
00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:33,160
them day and night.
And so here we see that it turns

505
00:24:33,160 --> 00:24:36,520
from just verbal attacks and
things are might get physically

506
00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:40,120
get aggressive, a fight might
break out and he might again

507
00:24:40,120 --> 00:24:43,600
goes to prayer and starts to
prepare for these attacks.

508
00:24:43,600 --> 00:24:46,680
The next few verses, you know,
talks about some of this

509
00:24:46,680 --> 00:24:49,600
discouragement is setting in.
They're saying, man, this is a

510
00:24:49,600 --> 00:24:50,880
bird and this is getting really
hard.

511
00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:55,120
It's getting old really fast.
And the Amaya's response, he

512
00:24:55,120 --> 00:24:57,200
kind of says, don't be afraid.
Remember the Lord who was great

513
00:24:57,200 --> 00:24:59,040
and awesome, fight for your
brothers, your sons, your

514
00:24:59,040 --> 00:25:00,520
daughters, your wives and your
homes.

515
00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:03,600
He kind of says, hey, you know,
see stationed people by their

516
00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:06,400
families, their clans with their
swords, their Spears and their

517
00:25:06,400 --> 00:25:07,640
bows.
So they're like working on the

518
00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:09,320
law.
They've got their weapons here.

519
00:25:09,320 --> 00:25:13,680
And that's always the.
Picture I have you know what the

520
00:25:13,680 --> 00:25:16,440
little I always think they're
not laying well, they may be

521
00:25:16,440 --> 00:25:19,040
laying bricks, I don't know this
probably some work, but I think

522
00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:20,960
that little.
The smoother.

523
00:25:20,960 --> 00:25:23,480
Little smoother of the mortar in
one hand and the sword in the

524
00:25:23,480 --> 00:25:24,560
other, and they're just like
working.

525
00:25:24,760 --> 00:25:26,600
They're doing both.
I love it.

526
00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:27,760
Yeah.
That's such a good, good

527
00:25:27,760 --> 00:25:29,600
picture.
And in verse 15.

528
00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:33,400
Trowel, trowel, Oh trowel.
There you go.

529
00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:35,760
Exactly the name of it, yeah.
Not the smoother.

530
00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:40,040
Not the smoother.
They they kind of get back to

531
00:25:40,040 --> 00:25:43,080
work.
Everyone just kept pushing

532
00:25:43,080 --> 00:25:46,160
through and they worked actually
pretty fast.

533
00:25:46,680 --> 00:25:49,560
Nehemiah is basically like, hey,
if you hear a trumpet, get ready

534
00:25:49,560 --> 00:25:51,440
to rally.
God's going to fight for us.

535
00:25:51,680 --> 00:25:53,160
And here we see again in verse
23.

536
00:25:53,160 --> 00:25:55,760
Each kept his weapon in his at
his right hands.

537
00:25:56,160 --> 00:25:59,440
And so they're working literally
with armor on being armed.

538
00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:03,520
They're vigilant, their
diligence working and and

539
00:26:03,520 --> 00:26:08,880
watching at the same time took
turns, you know, shifts, you

540
00:26:08,880 --> 00:26:11,600
know, no time to really relax.
It's kind of like we're we're in

541
00:26:11,600 --> 00:26:15,960
go mode all of the time.
And that brings us to Nehemiah 5

542
00:26:15,960 --> 00:26:19,520
and that it kind of continues to
take this downward trajectory.

543
00:26:19,520 --> 00:26:22,240
We see things are like great,
we're building a law, opposition

544
00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:25,960
sets in, and then it kind of
starts to really take its toll

545
00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:28,720
here.
Read verse one for me.

546
00:26:28,720 --> 00:26:29,840
Tell me what you think about
this.

547
00:26:30,560 --> 00:26:35,800
Now there arose a great outcry
of the people and of their wives

548
00:26:35,840 --> 00:26:38,960
against their Jewish brothers
specifically.

549
00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:41,360
Mentioned like hey, like the
wives are getting a little like

550
00:26:41,360 --> 00:26:44,200
this is going on too long.
Like it's hard on the family

551
00:26:45,480 --> 00:26:48,200
more so than this Verse 3 would
say we're mortgaging our fields,

552
00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:50,760
our vineyards, our house to get
grain because of the spam.

553
00:26:50,760 --> 00:26:54,640
And that's set in.
Some have borrowed money because

554
00:26:54,640 --> 00:26:57,760
the King's tax is so high.
They've even had to force their

555
00:26:57,760 --> 00:27:01,040
sons and daughters into slavery
to pay for this.

556
00:27:02,640 --> 00:27:04,640
Like, is this worth it?
Like what's this grade?

557
00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:08,320
Expectations were high.
It's getting old really, really

558
00:27:08,760 --> 00:27:12,960
fast.
All of these things and not only

559
00:27:12,960 --> 00:27:16,200
that what but they were being
oppressed like they would have

560
00:27:16,200 --> 00:27:19,280
to take out loans from the
wealthy Jews like, not

561
00:27:19,280 --> 00:27:21,560
foreigners, like by their own
people.

562
00:27:21,560 --> 00:27:25,320
This is not not not great that
the poor people are being

563
00:27:25,320 --> 00:27:29,280
exploited.
There were laws in in from Moses

564
00:27:29,280 --> 00:27:32,840
to not exploit the poor.
And you know, things are

565
00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:34,680
probably worse 'cause you
couldn't work your normal job.

566
00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:36,320
You're like building the wall.
It's kind of hard.

567
00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:40,240
You know, you're trying to
sacrifice to do what's right for

568
00:27:40,480 --> 00:27:43,760
this new Jerusalem that that
you're building.

569
00:27:44,560 --> 00:27:47,600
That brings us to verses 6
through 14.

570
00:27:47,600 --> 00:27:50,360
And Nehemiah's response is that
he's angry.

571
00:27:50,520 --> 00:27:54,800
He's not happy.
He does talk with he, he takes

572
00:27:54,800 --> 00:27:57,640
counsel with himself and he goes
to the nobles, the officials.

573
00:27:57,840 --> 00:28:00,440
He's like, what are we doing?
You're taking interest from each

574
00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:02,920
other.
Don't you fear God?

575
00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:05,200
We need to stop, you know,
taking interest.

576
00:28:05,200 --> 00:28:08,880
This is like exactly what Moses
wrote about return to them,

577
00:28:08,880 --> 00:28:10,960
their fields, their vineyards,
their olive orchids, their

578
00:28:10,960 --> 00:28:14,320
houses, the money, wine, grain,
oil that you've been taking from

579
00:28:14,320 --> 00:28:15,920
them.
And everyone agreed to said,

580
00:28:15,920 --> 00:28:17,640
Amen, praise the Lord, this is
good.

581
00:28:17,920 --> 00:28:19,920
This will help get us back on
track.

582
00:28:19,920 --> 00:28:22,760
So again, if we look at
Nehemiah's leadership, he's

583
00:28:22,760 --> 00:28:24,880
going to scripture.
He's saying, OK, this is this is

584
00:28:24,880 --> 00:28:29,280
no way to build build the wall
and get things back up and

585
00:28:29,280 --> 00:28:33,080
running.
But you can kind of see how even

586
00:28:33,080 --> 00:28:36,680
something exciting as building a
wall is not not super fun after

587
00:28:36,680 --> 00:28:38,080
a while.
Yeah.

588
00:28:38,080 --> 00:28:41,720
And you, you, you put yourself
in that, in their position, Like

589
00:28:42,200 --> 00:28:45,320
you have this, the third wave,
really.

590
00:28:45,520 --> 00:28:46,480
Yeah, Right, right, right,
right.

591
00:28:46,560 --> 00:28:50,800
And you might think that they're
thinking that they're gonna

592
00:28:50,800 --> 00:28:52,720
basically re establish
Jerusalem.

593
00:28:52,800 --> 00:28:55,080
You know, they're gonna have
some authority, they're gonna

594
00:28:55,080 --> 00:28:56,840
have some golden years ahead of
them.

595
00:28:56,960 --> 00:28:58,120
And it's.
Just like Jerusalem's gonna

596
00:28:58,120 --> 00:29:00,360
like, even probably expand
across the whole Earth.

597
00:29:00,440 --> 00:29:03,320
It's like they're just like,
man, this is like so awesome.

598
00:29:03,320 --> 00:29:05,600
And they're just trying to hold
it together really at the end of

599
00:29:05,600 --> 00:29:07,160
the day and.
They probably look around.

600
00:29:07,160 --> 00:29:09,080
They're like, there's not that
many of us.

601
00:29:09,720 --> 00:29:13,000
And like these two same ballot
Tobiah just like keep like what

602
00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:15,080
gives, man?
Like it's crazy.

603
00:29:16,160 --> 00:29:18,720
And they're like, not only this,
but like we're not living the

604
00:29:18,720 --> 00:29:20,560
Torah.
Like we're like literally doing

605
00:29:20,560 --> 00:29:22,800
the exact opposite here.
But they they repented.

606
00:29:22,800 --> 00:29:26,920
It was a positive turn around.
Nehemiah, there's a little

607
00:29:26,920 --> 00:29:28,360
paragraph in here.
He's saying, hey, I didn't

608
00:29:28,360 --> 00:29:30,880
demand any food.
I was governor, but I didn't tax

609
00:29:30,880 --> 00:29:32,120
the people.
I was a good governor.

610
00:29:32,120 --> 00:29:36,280
Just throwing that out there.
And then we'll we'll wrap it up

611
00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:39,640
with Nehemiah 6:00 and 7:00 to
end this section.

612
00:29:41,240 --> 00:29:45,320
But as Chapter 6 starts out that
there's this conspiracy against

613
00:29:45,320 --> 00:29:47,760
Nehemiah.
So we had some opposition from

614
00:29:47,760 --> 00:29:49,160
within.
We had some opposition from

615
00:29:49,160 --> 00:29:51,440
without, then within and then
back to without, which we're

616
00:29:51,440 --> 00:29:53,960
having opposition kind of all
over the place.

617
00:29:53,960 --> 00:29:56,720
And they kind of tell Nehemiah,
hey, come on, let's get

618
00:29:56,720 --> 00:29:58,400
together.
We want to talk to you for a

619
00:29:58,400 --> 00:30:00,240
little bit.
But they actually wanted to hurt

620
00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:02,000
him.
He kind of saw that and they

621
00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:05,600
sent to him four times this way
and then a fifth time with a

622
00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:10,480
letter saying that man, it seems
like you, the Jews, you guys

623
00:30:10,480 --> 00:30:11,840
want to rebel.
That's why you're building the

624
00:30:11,840 --> 00:30:13,400
wall.
You know, the King's not going

625
00:30:13,400 --> 00:30:16,200
to like to like to see this.
You know, we're going to, you

626
00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:17,320
know, send this to the king so
it.

627
00:30:18,160 --> 00:30:21,080
Seems odd because the King's one
that sent them out there, yeah.

628
00:30:21,080 --> 00:30:23,800
With bodyguards like people from
the Royal I.

629
00:30:23,800 --> 00:30:25,760
Wonder if the bodyguards were
just there for the trip?

630
00:30:26,080 --> 00:30:28,160
Yeah, maybe they went back and
then hey, you guys made it

631
00:30:28,160 --> 00:30:31,480
safely.
So anyway, these these people

632
00:30:31,480 --> 00:30:33,840
talk about persistence.
They are very persistent.

633
00:30:33,840 --> 00:30:37,600
But Nehemiah is at least smart
enough to not like meet them for

634
00:30:37,600 --> 00:30:39,440
official business and risk risk
his life.

635
00:30:40,480 --> 00:30:44,560
So you're saying sometimes
diplomacy is not the right

636
00:30:44,560 --> 00:30:45,560
answer?
Yeah.

637
00:30:45,560 --> 00:30:48,600
And that's a tough one because
you want to, you know, sometimes

638
00:30:48,920 --> 00:30:53,920
like in my, in my, like, what I
try to do a lot at work is if

639
00:30:53,920 --> 00:30:57,320
someone's like making a mistake,
I almost like want, like I, I

640
00:30:57,320 --> 00:30:59,800
want to be accommodated to the
point where like, this is a bad

641
00:30:59,800 --> 00:31:01,240
idea.
And This is why, like, I'm going

642
00:31:01,240 --> 00:31:03,360
to show you how to do this.
But sometimes you just like, you

643
00:31:03,360 --> 00:31:05,360
got to tell someone like this is
a really bad idea.

644
00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:08,000
Like you should not, you should
not do this.

645
00:31:08,600 --> 00:31:10,640
So they're accusing him of all
these false things.

646
00:31:10,640 --> 00:31:12,400
Nehemiah says, Hey, I don't want
to be king.

647
00:31:12,400 --> 00:31:14,120
This is not, I'm not trying to
rebel.

648
00:31:14,720 --> 00:31:16,520
They just want to scare him with
these lies.

649
00:31:16,520 --> 00:31:19,040
And this whole section ends with
prayer.

650
00:31:19,040 --> 00:31:20,400
If you could could have guessed
it.

651
00:31:21,960 --> 00:31:24,080
Keep working our way through the
chapter.

652
00:31:24,080 --> 00:31:26,240
We kind of see some more
opposition.

653
00:31:26,720 --> 00:31:30,280
This guy Shamaya, this Jewish
official who really should have

654
00:31:30,280 --> 00:31:33,520
been a friend of Nehemiah, tells
Nehemiah that you need to hide

655
00:31:33,520 --> 00:31:35,720
from these people.
But Nehemiah's like, well, I

656
00:31:35,720 --> 00:31:37,920
didn't meet with them, but I'm
not going to back down.

657
00:31:37,920 --> 00:31:40,360
If I like hide and run away.
That's not good leadership.

658
00:31:41,200 --> 00:31:44,080
And the people are going to lose
faith in him.

659
00:31:44,080 --> 00:31:45,520
He would get a bad name for
hiding.

660
00:31:45,520 --> 00:31:47,040
And so you see kind of all of
this stuff.

661
00:31:47,040 --> 00:31:52,280
But in the midst of this, verses
15 through 19 talk about the

662
00:31:52,280 --> 00:31:55,200
wall finishing.
Can you read verse 15 for us?

663
00:31:55,400 --> 00:31:57,800
Yeah, it says so.
The wall was finished on the

664
00:31:57,800 --> 00:32:02,520
25th day in the month of ELU in
52 days.

665
00:32:02,840 --> 00:32:04,840
Yeah, so that that's actually
pretty quick work.

666
00:32:04,840 --> 00:32:06,560
Like you kind of read this,
you're like, man doesn't get

667
00:32:06,560 --> 00:32:08,400
drawn out.
But they were working really

668
00:32:08,400 --> 00:32:10,520
hard.
All other nations around us were

669
00:32:10,520 --> 00:32:12,880
afraid.
They perceived that this was

670
00:32:12,880 --> 00:32:16,320
God's hand at work.
And then Tobiah kept like

671
00:32:16,320 --> 00:32:19,160
sending letters to make make him
afraid.

672
00:32:19,680 --> 00:32:24,480
Brings us to Chapter 7.
The wall has been built in 52

673
00:32:24,480 --> 00:32:26,720
days.
And this guy, Hannah and I,

674
00:32:28,200 --> 00:32:31,240
Nehemiah trained up this, this
leader to help him.

675
00:32:31,320 --> 00:32:34,040
And so it wasn't him doing
everything, but found this guy

676
00:32:34,040 --> 00:32:35,680
to, to help him out a little
bit.

677
00:32:35,680 --> 00:32:39,240
He was a faithful guy, God
fearing a man that's mentioned.

678
00:32:39,240 --> 00:32:43,360
And you know, he's helping,
helping Nehemiah out a little

679
00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:45,280
bit.
He makes some rules like, hey,

680
00:32:45,280 --> 00:32:48,520
let's not open the gates at
sunrise, but let's wait till

681
00:32:48,520 --> 00:32:50,800
midday so we don't get, you
know, ambushed or that kind of

682
00:32:50,800 --> 00:32:52,280
thing.
Being a little bit extra careful

683
00:32:52,280 --> 00:32:56,280
as they start doing things again
and again.

684
00:32:56,280 --> 00:32:58,160
This is just the wall.
They still had a lot of houses

685
00:32:58,160 --> 00:33:00,960
to be rebuilt, a lot of work
ahead of them.

686
00:33:01,040 --> 00:33:02,640
And then because.
Once there's some people living

687
00:33:02,720 --> 00:33:06,360
outside of Jerusalem and like in
and so Nehemiah is trying to get

688
00:33:06,360 --> 00:33:09,280
them to like repopulate in the
center of Jerusalem again,

689
00:33:09,280 --> 00:33:11,120
something like this.
That's like the ideal.

690
00:33:11,160 --> 00:33:16,680
Yeah, exactly.
And then we've got just a bunch

691
00:33:16,680 --> 00:33:21,920
of names again, a list of exiles
that return and you know, Ezra

692
00:33:21,920 --> 00:33:24,480
Nehemiah is 1 scroll written by
the same person.

693
00:33:25,200 --> 00:33:29,480
This is literally word for word
the exact list we find in Ezra

694
00:33:29,480 --> 00:33:31,120
2.
So you've got to ask yourself,

695
00:33:31,120 --> 00:33:34,360
like, why are we like, why are
we doing this again?

696
00:33:35,880 --> 00:33:38,200
And so, you know, a lot of
commentators are gonna say this

697
00:33:38,200 --> 00:33:40,920
is kind of like there's almost
work works as bookends.

698
00:33:40,920 --> 00:33:43,600
Like, OK, this was one story,
here's another story.

699
00:33:43,600 --> 00:33:46,040
We're kind of putting all these
accounts, they're supposed to be

700
00:33:46,040 --> 00:33:48,760
parallel written.
And then the second-half, when

701
00:33:48,760 --> 00:33:51,240
we get the second-half of the
DMI, we'll kind of see more of a

702
00:33:51,240 --> 00:33:54,480
conclusion to the end, kind of
casting judgment or, you know,

703
00:33:54,880 --> 00:33:57,040
kind of trying to reconcile
what's happened so far.

704
00:33:57,560 --> 00:34:01,160
Yeah, I wonder if there, you
know, when the Levitical

705
00:34:01,160 --> 00:34:04,160
priesthood gets kicked off, you
get some names and you got the

706
00:34:04,160 --> 00:34:07,360
different like 3 different lines
of Aaron and they like have

707
00:34:07,360 --> 00:34:09,840
different jobs and stuff.
I wonder if that's in the back

708
00:34:09,840 --> 00:34:14,120
of Ezra's mind and he's like,
like maybe trying to duplicate

709
00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:16,040
that or something.
Honestly, I bet it is because

710
00:34:16,040 --> 00:34:19,320
it's like, it just seems like
Ezra has such a command of the

711
00:34:19,360 --> 00:34:21,239
he's like always doing stuff
with the Old Testament.

712
00:34:21,239 --> 00:34:23,320
It won't surprise me that he's
like bringing all of this stuff.

713
00:34:23,400 --> 00:34:27,880
Together, we're pretty sure he's
the organizer editor of

714
00:34:28,120 --> 00:34:29,679
Chronicles First, Second
Chronicles.

715
00:34:29,760 --> 00:34:31,719
I think so.
That's what a lot of people say.

716
00:34:31,719 --> 00:34:33,040
There's and.
There's a lot of names and

717
00:34:33,040 --> 00:34:35,080
chronicles too.
A lot of names and Chronicles.

718
00:34:35,120 --> 00:34:36,120
Yeah.
And it's interesting.

719
00:34:36,120 --> 00:34:41,040
Like Chronicles.
It kind of ends with this edict

720
00:34:41,040 --> 00:34:41,719
of Cyrus.
I don't know.

721
00:34:41,719 --> 00:34:43,360
There's some.
It's almost like it's.

722
00:34:43,400 --> 00:34:48,239
Yeah, there's a lot of parallels
here, but can you just read all

723
00:34:48,239 --> 00:34:49,600
these names real quick for us?
Just finish it up.

724
00:34:49,600 --> 00:34:50,639
No, I'm just kidding.
It's it.

725
00:34:50,679 --> 00:34:54,960
We would be here for for a
minute, but that's Nehemiah.

726
00:34:55,159 --> 00:34:58,160
One through 7, things are going,
you know, some opposition, but

727
00:34:58,160 --> 00:35:00,440
it seems like things are going
pretty good.

728
00:35:00,440 --> 00:35:03,240
They got the wall finished like
he pushed through.

729
00:35:03,400 --> 00:35:06,840
If you try hard enough, work
through obstacles, things will

730
00:35:06,840 --> 00:35:07,640
be OK.
Yeah, that's.

731
00:35:07,760 --> 00:35:09,760
That's that's, that's the
that's.

732
00:35:09,760 --> 00:35:11,120
If it ended there, yeah, yeah,
yeah.

733
00:35:11,480 --> 00:35:15,400
So we'll look at the second-half
of Nehemiah on our next episode.

734
00:35:15,400 --> 00:35:16,840
Any any closing thoughts,
Michael?

735
00:35:17,320 --> 00:35:20,200
No, it's been, it's been great
to spend some time in in these.

736
00:35:20,400 --> 00:35:21,600
Look forward to the next
episode.

737
00:35:22,600 --> 00:35:25,920
That's our take.
Thanks for listening to Take

738
00:35:25,920 --> 00:35:28,120
Two.
Find us wherever you find

739
00:35:28,120 --> 00:35:30,640
podcasts and on YouTube for
those who want to watch our

740
00:35:30,640 --> 00:35:31,320
video cast.